Tuesday, August 12

"Nude" Berry Tartlets and Why I Can't Be a Raw Foodie

A rawist is a person who consumes primarily raw food, (or all raw food in some cases).

Now a rawist should not to be confused with a nudist. A nudist could be a rawist, but not necessarily so -- it really just depends on what they eat. We actually have plenty of both here in California. As it turns out, however, I am neither.

A couple years ago when I was feeling particularly in touch with my natural-girl-self, I attended a talk in LA given by a rawist woman (wearing clothes) who made claims like, "Raw foods will cleanse your system!" "Raw foods make your skin glow!" and "Raw foods will make you healthy and improve your sex life!" I remember during the talk thinking, "Geeze, the only thing raw foods couldn't do is solve the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. Or could it?"

The main problem I had though was the stark contrast between what she was saying and the way she looked. She had a wan complexion, wispy hair, and a rail thin frame. As the lecture went on, all I could think was: "God, I wish I could just feed her.... What she needs is a big plate of gnocchi with some sausage and meatballs. You know, something that would stick to her ribs."

Needless to say, I never did hop on the raw food bandwagon. But, that doesn't mean I don't like raw dishes. For example, I was smitten with these raw blueberry tartlets at first sight. After all, honeyed dates, crunchy almonds, and juicy berries are all sublime in their raw, unadorned state.

Though I tweaked the recipe a little by adding mixed berries and more flavoring, I remained true to the raw deliciousness of the original. Plus, this is a no-bake dessert. I repeat, for all of you wilting in sweltering climates, this is a no-bake dessert. So make these on even the hottest, humid summer day, and still look cool and sophisticated when you serve them.

Oh, and I just can't call them "Raw" Berry Tartlets. It brings back too many frightening images. Let's call them "Nude" Berry Tartlets, shall we?

Coat a mixing bowl with cooking spray. Pulse almonds in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs. Empty into the prepared bowl. Pulse dates with 2-3 teaspoons water in food processor until well chopped (they will be a little clumpy). Using your hands, mix with almonds to form a paste. (If it's too crumbly, just add a few more drops of water). Divide mixture evenly into 4 golf ball sized rounds. Place each ball between 2 pieces of wax paper and press to form a 4-inch crust. Using your fingertips, turn up edges to form a rim. Refrigerate for 2 hours (they will harden and become much easier to remove from the wax paper).

Allow the berries to come to room temperature before assembling the tartlets and serving. Use a spatula to transfer the date-nuts crusts to serving plates; fill each with 1/4 of the berries and drizzle with some leftover juices from the bowl. Top with julienned orange zest and a sprig of mint.

73 comments:

Your explanation of "rawist" and nudist is too funny Susan! I once met a woman who said she was a "fruitairian" i.e. she only ate fruits (seriously!). But i actually love the base for these "nude" tartlets..I might just eat them. With or without clothes! Beautiful pics as usual!

Ah, you sure know how to make the most of a rawist recipe, Susan... With tons of fresh fruit of course. This looks beautiful!I don't think I can ever live without caramelization and the Maillard reaction. The woman's appearance is probably from misery, heh heh :)

You know, in Chinese medicine raw foods are considered quite bad for your system. It's too hard for your stomach/spleen to process cold, raw foods, which is why Chinese cooking is so big on stir-frying: cook it lightly to jumpstart digestion. And I do think they have a point...(but I would still eat those nude berries in a hot second).

Ha! This was hilarious. A plate of potato dumplings with sausage? I'll take it any day - lol. Way too funny - but you know, I can't be rawist either...or a nudist for that matter. I've eaten too much pasta and sausage - lol.

I love how you say you wanted to feed her sausages and meatballs and such, both things I couldn't live without! Those nude tartlets look just fabulous with their little springy lemon zests peeking out, beautiful!

Can you please make something that doesn't make me want to crawl through my computer and eat AND/OR frame the photo (AFTER eating the real thing)? And this one came with an added bonus of me cracking up at raw foods solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...

The first time i learned about the raw food thingy I just though. What? No cake? Forget about it. And that was it for me, my interest lasted probablt less than 1 second. But hey I do have to admit that this nude tart must be delicious, and some times imagination that's all we need.

Susan, I love your description of the rawist! I think Calvin Trillin once commented on being less than convinced with health food stores [or maybe it was Dave Barry] because none of the guys working there could grow a decent beard.

Being a strict omnivore myself, I'm not a fan of any dietary lifestyle choices that limit the palate--and honestly, the whole raw thing seems particularly silly to me. That said, these "nude" berry tarts do look amazing, Susan. Nice job as always!

Though I know consuming food in their natural food has their benefits, I know I can never be a rawist. I believe moderation is the key to good health. Your nude berry tart looks delicious and I would consume this any given day!

the colors, look at the wonderful colors! even if all the food looked like this, i could never be a rawist (or a nudist, for that matter). no way, no how.thanks for the chuckles and premium food porn. :)

I could barely read the words I was to busy staring at those outragously gorgeous photo's!! Susan, I don't care what you make, its always beautiful and inticing!Being Italian,you know where I stand with the whole nudist/rawist thingy! :)

Wonderfully written, Susan, your story about that woman's speech really made me laugh. I don't think I could be a rawist too, too many tasty dishes which include cooked vegetables. The tartlets look absolutely fantastic!

Rawist & Nudist...whatever the 'ist'...can I have one of these beauties please! SPECTACULAR pictures in stunning detail! Lucky you & Dermadoc! I think you should attend more of every sorta hysterical talks...never know what delightful stuff you'll come up with. This is FRESH & EXCITING!!

this looks naturally delicious, susan. there is a food writer in new zealand is campaigning about eating raw food and she creates many uncooked or unbaked goodies from different versions of raw vegies and fruits. i think that is amazing! do you feel slightly different maybe after eating these raw food, compared to what you've eaten before? can you feel it in your body?

Susan, these photos are beautiful! And this sounds delicious. the crust on this tart looks delicious. I could never be a raw foodie either... where's the fun in that?!?! And what do you do at Thanksgiving?!?!?

These tarts look so pretty. And I really liked what goes into the base.We are vegetarian but we don't really eat too much of raw food, other than fruits. My daughter hates raw salads, insisting that she's not a "cow"!

Lovely post :-) Made me laugh. I was once playing with the idea of going raw, as well, but gave up very soon. Raw food makes me feel cold. I dotn think I could stand that here in Denmark. IO am not sure how much raw food solves political issues, but darn a bowl of gnocchi would definitely solve my what-to-make for lunch probelm :-)Btw, I hope you are participating this month´s Tried And Tasted, we are cooking from Jugalbandi(ts).

This entry cracked me up because a raw food purist just called me tonight. She told me she has cured breast cancer, depression and arthritis with raw food. I'm meeting her Wednesday for a work story and now I'm dying to see what she looks like!

Hmm, I think I'm with you on the raw food. It just sounds like very little fun. One of the "in" places in London these days is Saf, a gourmet raw food restaurant. It's all very worthy and I'm sure they do amazing things with nuts, but it all seems like an enormous amount of work to imitate stuff that already exists. I mean, why try to make raw ravioli - why not just reconcile yourself to the fact that real ravioli needs cooking and eat stunning salads instead??

These beautiful tarts are excluded from the above rant of course - they look *incredible*. Fascinated by the crust which would be good for gluten-free folks too. But mostly, I'm in love with the drop-dead stunning photos.

I have a friend who went raw for awhile, but like you, I couldn't give up the cooked veggies. I like my veggies cooked. Fruits, on the other hand.. I could eat this tartlette every day! It looks amazing!

In Australia we call them raw foodists...(as opposed to rawists) I wrote a raw cookbook for my job, and one of the 'rules' is to soak all nuts before use...(FYI) If you require a dry nut for a recipe, they can be dehydrated over several days and still be within the raw foodists diet code. Frustrating initially, the project gave me new appreciation for inclusion of more raw foods in my diet. This recipe Susan, looks sensational and perfectly acceptable as a dessert, raw or not!